A Greek word , which refers to a state of well

being, healthy, happy and prosperous.

Moral Philosophy: Refers to the right actions that

those results to the well being of an individual.
Literal Sense: An objective state
where an individual places his/
her personal happiness or
complete life at the core of ethical
concern.
History of
Eudaimonism:

Socrates: Human
beings desire the
state of eudaimonia
more than anything
else.

Virtues like justice, courage , self-control &

wisdom are essential & when practice
sufficiently leads to eudaimonia.
Plato: By doing what is wrong, the person will
be miserable.

To guide all desires and actions of an

individual towards eudaimonia- the rational
part of the mind and or the soul has to lead the
emotional, appetitive and spirited parts.
Aristotle: Is constituted by rational activities
that are associated with virtue rather than
power, virtue rather honor.

Rational activity has to be manifested as pride,

wittiness, friendships that are mutually
beneficial, pride and honesty among others.
Every action has an aim. Every action aims at
some good.
Examples: The doctor’s vaccination of the
baby aims at the baby’s
health.

Manny Pacquiao trains

religiously so he can win.
Some things are done for their own
sake and some things are done for
the sake of other things .

Claims that all things that are ends

are ends in themselves also
contribute to a wider end, an end
which is the greatest good of all.

This good is eudaimonia.

Eudaimonia is contentment, fulfillment,
happiness well deserved.

It’s the name of the best kind of life, which

is an end in itself and a means to live and
fare well.
Stoics: A eudaimonian life is morally virtuous
life.

A moral virtue is essentially good.

A moral vice is bad.

GOOD LIFE

Is there an ultimate end, goal or

purpose of human life?
Final end of human life is t o flourish
well, to have a good where all acts
should be aim to this end.

Anything we call good, we do because it

is the means to living or living well.
Different people have different ideas
about what a good life is?

Aristotle argued that not all desires

are of the same sort.

1. Acquired desires- different , wants

2. Natural desires - the same - needs
Acquired desires or wants corresponds to
Apparent goods; things that appear good
because you want them.

Natural desires or needs corresponds to the

real good, things that are good for you
whether you want it or not.
Good life consists in the possession , over

really good for us. What is really good

corresponds to the natural needs that are

the same for all human beings, that what is

good for one person is also good for

another.
What are the real good s that a
person should seek to obtain in
order to live well?
1. Bodily goods- health, vitality, vigor, pleasure
2. External goods (wealth) – food, drink,
clothing, shelter, sleep
3. Goods of the soul- knowledge, skill, love,
friendship, aesthetic enjoyment, self-esteem
and honor.
Bodily and External goods are limited goods - we can
have more than we need.

Goods for the soul are unlimited goods – we cannot

have more than of them we need.

How exactly do we go about trying to come into

possession of all these things.?

The way to bridge the gap between the knowledge of

good life and actually living it is through the
development of good moral character.
A good moral character which entails developing good
habits. A good habit allows us to perform certain
actions without effort.

Examples: Good habit of hitting golf balls.

Playing piano.
Reading books
Studying lessons

We can also habitually make good choices to avoid

overeating and drinking too much.
GOOD HABITS -
VIRTUES OR EXCELLENCES
1. Intellectual virtues- exemplified by a regular
disposition to choose correctly ( moral virtues)

Moral virtue plays a special role in living well.

The habit of making choices – is so important that

our choices determine whether we live well.
We need to develop good habits or virtues which
would help us obtain what is really good for us as
opposed to bad habits or vices which appear to be
good , but may turn out to be bad for us.
Good habits or moral values are the principal
means to having good lives, because they allow
us to habitually make the choices that both
constitute and lead good lives.

Most importance moral values or habits are

temperance, courage and justice.

1. Temperance or moderation keep us from

overindulging in pleasure or seeking too much
of the limited goods.
2. Courage- is having the strong will to having the
disposition to do what it takes to live a good life.

3. Justice - is the virtue that allows us to have friends

and enjoy the benefits to enjoy the benefits
of cooperation .

Is the knowledge of good life and good habits enough

to attain living a good life?
No, because living well is not completely within our
control. Why?

1. Some real goods , like wealth or health are not

completely within our power to possess.

2. We did not create the initial conditions of our

birth or environment , we cannot make fortune
smile upon us.
The end, goal, purpose (meaning) of
human life ,is to live well. We do this
by accumulating, over the course of
our lives, all the real goods that
corresponds to our natural needs; and
we increase our chances of having
good lives by cultivating good habits.
In addition we need good luck.